Win Social Security Disability & SSI: Raynaud’s Syndrome

Winning Your Raynaud’s Disease Case

Winning your Social Security disability or SSI case with Raynaud’s disease (phenomenon or syndrome) means complying with

1. Non-Medical Criteria, and
2. Disability Criteria.

You can comply with the disability criteria if –

1. You understand how Social Security evaluates Raynaud’s syndrome (covered here)
2. You satisfy a Raynaud’s Social Security Listing (also covered here) or you have disabling Functional Limitations, and
3. You Submit Winning Evidence.

The Importance Of Medical Evidence In Your Disability Claim – Raynaud’s Disease

Raynaud’s disease (also called Raynaud’s phenomenon or syndrome) is a somewhat infrequent Social Security and SSI disability case when compared to other impairments. Raynaud’s disease is a vascular disease that causes blood vessels in the fingers and toes to narrow and temporarily reduce blood flow. There are two types of Raynaud’s: 1) primary Raynaud’s which is its own condition, and 2) secondary Raynaud’s which occurs because of another condition. Raynaud’s commonly causes pain, numbness, coldness, and white to blue skin color in the fingers or toes. In severe cases, open sores occur. In a Social Security disability case, it is generally the hand symptoms that are most disabling for Raynaud’s suffers, and your symptomatology needs to be severe.

Records of your medical treatment are especially important to Social Security because medical treatment produces medical records which tell Social Security about the nature of you Raynaud’s disease disability. However, there are no objective tests to diagnose Raynaud’s disease except for possibly a blood test if another condition is suspected. Diagnosis is made by your doctor’s clinical observation of you to determine if you suffer the aforementioned symptoms. Therefore, it is critical you have a good doctor – someone who is thorough and produces good medical records. Lazy doctors are just never good at providing diagnoses for impairments requiring clinical observation. Those with Raynaud’s Social Security disability case do well to obtain and read the medical notes authored by their doctor to determine if the doctor is accurately describing the nature of the disease. If not, changes must be made in order to win a disability case – better writing or a new doctor. Raynaud’s disease treatment is limited, unfortunately, and consists of calcium channel blockers and vasodilators. Most doctors prescribe as much movement as you can tolerate.

The Raynaud’s Social Security & SSI Listing

The Adult Listing 3.04 and the Child Listing 103.04 require satisfying either 1 or 2:

1. Gangrenous complications of two or more limbs; or
2. Ischemia (artery blockage) and open sores of your toes or fingers.